When Jesus Christ promised to build His church He spoke of building only one (Matthew 16:18, 19). The apostle Paul referred to the church as "the body of Christ" (Ephesians 1:22, 23). He said there is only one body (Ephesians 4:4). Furthermore, He said Jesus Christ is the Saviour of that body (Ephesians 5:23). This body, or church, is the same one which was established by Jesus Christ through the preaching of the apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). It is the one and only church which the Lord established, and the only one purchased with His saving blood (Acts 20:28). Only those who are members of this one body are Christians (Acts 11:26).
Neither Jesus, nor His apostles, nor any other faithful Christian in the first century established any denominations. Denominations have been established by those who teach for doctrines the commandments of men (Matthew 15:9). These are they who pervert the Gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:8, 9) by adding to, or taking away from the Word of God (Revelation 22:18, 19). Changing the Word of God produces man made churches (denominations) and never produces the Lord's church. The Lord's church is produced only when the pure seed of the Word of God is sown without corruption (Luke 8:11).
We can know that the church of Christ is the one and only church which Jesus Christ built. We know that because the church of Christ uses the Bible as its only guide and authority (2 Timothy 3:15-17). A congregation of the Lord's church exists whenever a group of people take the Bible as its only guide in religious matters and make proper application of the pattern set forth for the church in the New Testament. Those who are faithful members of the church of Christ have done this very thing. The church of Christ which Jesus founded on the day of Pentecost exists today because we have followed His guide and blueprint for the church.
Denominationalism is sinful because it is divisive (1 Corinthians 1:10). It is sinful because it makes worship vain (Matthew 15:9). Denominationalism is sinful because there is no authority or justification for it in God's Holy Word.
The church of Christ (Romans 16:16) is not a denomination! For this reason we must be careful not to refer to the church or its members in denominational terms. To say that members of the body of Christ are "church of Christers" is to use a term for the people of God not authorized in the New Testament. Further, such a term suggests that members of the church of Christ are simply members of another denomination. For the same reason we should not refer to "church of Christ doctrine," nor should we speak of a single individual Christian as a "church of Christ" in the same way we might refer to a Baptist, a Catholic, or a Methodist. We must never give the impression to anyone through the terms we use that we believe the church of Christ is nothing more than another of the thousands of man made denominations.
The church of Christ is the bride of Christ, the body of Christ, the Lord's church. The church of Christ is not a denomination!This item originally appeared in Fulton County Gospel News (October 2000)
